


Path of Morgana

by HeruKane



Series: Merlin Effect (Empire of Albion) [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Albion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fate & Destiny, Gen, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 06:55:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeruKane/pseuds/HeruKane
Summary: A discovery that maybe the antics of Morgana are not entirely those she would have chosen. Part of the Merlin Effect saga within the Albion universe.





	Path of Morgana

  
**The Path of Morgana**  
\--------------------  
  
"You know, I cannot help but think Morgana has given herself over to fate."   
  
Arthur looks up from the battle plans he is going over to stare at Merlin. A little bit of anger is in his voice. "What does that even mean?"   
  
"The divinities have a plan for this world. Now, for the most part its a plan that is focused on the big picture. A fact which still gives the average person control over their own lives."   
  
"Right. While certain other people are guided towards certain actions. I understand that. But what does that have to do with Morgana."   
  
Merlin shakes his head, looking at Arthur. "Look, bear with me for a moment. I'm trying to work something out and I think it might be important." Arthur nods, he has long given himself to trusting Merlin. "Right. So destiny isn't a closed loop. There are hundreds, even thousands of potentials. The divinities see them all and, from what I gather, live in all of them at the same time. That said not all potentials are actual, they don't all exist somewhere in reality." He looks at Arthur, in a 'does this make sense' way.   
  
"Okay. I am following you. Generally anyway. But if what you are saying is true doesn't that mean there are multiple worlds out there, each based on a different path chosen at some point?"  
  
"Yes. Exactly. I should note as a quick tangent, mystics have long believed that multiple other worlds exist. Some incredibly close to our own while others are quite far. Some might not even have magic for example." Here he shakes his head. "But the point I am trying to make is that the alternate possibilities are something that a magic user of high power can see!"   
  
"Wait, so you can see the future? Isn't that something we can use."   
  
"We already do. But no, not in the way you are thinking. Because what I see are potential, possible futures. No one can know which one is the one that will happen till it happens." Merlin gets a sad look on his face. "Sometimes the act of trying to stop a future actually brings it about."  
  
"So you don't look?"  
  
"Oh no, I look." Here he laughs at himself. "I tried to resist but its pretty fun and also in some ways addicting. What I don't do is fixate on any one of them or even give any of them power over my actions. And no, this was not easy. There were times when I was learning that this caused me problems."  
  
"Is that why you occasionally come up with random ideas that in the end seem to work quite well."   
  
"Yes. Some paths have giant banners and flags put up by the divinities - ah, figuratively that is - that say go this way its brilliant. I find in those few cases its normally best to go with it. Though I have ignored them in a few cases. In fact, in one I successfully argued back that what they wanted wasn't the best."  
  
"Wait, you did what! You argued with the gods of the world on their choices. Are you insane. No, don't answer that. You must be."  
  
"Arthur, have trust in me. I know what I am doing. Plus, none of the divinities that interact with the world are infallible omnipotent beings. There is only one such entity and that being doesn't walk around interacting with the world for the most part." Here he gives Arthur a look before he says anything. "No, I am not going down that path. Its too deep for those fully of reality, including the divinities."  
  
"Right. Okay. Let us get back to the topic at hand. So Morgana. And Fate. What about it."   
  
"Right. So where was I. Oh yes, so while I look at the path of the future and see potentials that aren't set in stone I think she has become locked into one particular path, with all its twists and turns."  
  
As they are about to continue talking Leon walks up them and they stop having the time to chatter. But both remember the conversation. As does Gwen who was sitting there listening to them.  
  
8888  
  
"So a little while ago you were talking to me about Morgana and the nature of behavior. We got cut off, but I have been wondering what sort of path she might have seen." Arthur says to Merlin one night while they are sitting around in the common room of the Round Table.   
  
"I don't know. But it seems to be taking her and us on wild goose chase all around Albion. Think about it. In the last ten years her antics have touched pretty much every kingdom and land in Albion. She goes somewhere, corrupts it, we follow, defeat her meddling, conquer the land, and reorganize. For the most part you have been conquering Albion by reaction rather than action."  
  
"Which is working!"   
  
"Yes. That is the point. It is. Nobody, even the random kings and lords of Albion you conquer, consider you a warmonger. But the truth is different, since there hasn't been a year since you became King in which some war or military action of some sort hasn't occurred." Here he shakes his head. "I am not calling what you, what we, are doing bad. I just find it very convenient."   
  
Arthur gets a look of concentration on his face, as he goes through the possibilities. "No you are right. But what do we do about it?"  
  
"I am not suggesting we stop. No matter her reason Morgana is attacking innocent people and subjugating them to horrors most people cannot imagine. She must be stopped!"   
  
"Right. Okay. Good. At least we are on the same page about that. But what I don't understand is why she is doing it."  
  
"I don't honestly know. The only thing I can think of is that at some point as she was learning about her Sight she tapped into something she shouldn't have. Saw something that effected her so deeply that it wrote her path for her."   
  
"Do you have any idea what that could be?"  
  
"No but that makes sense. The way we both see the future is different and hers is a little more potent than mine in that particular arena." Noticing the look on Arthur's face Merlin chooses to explain further. "Basically, you could describe my farseeing as standing on a beach and using my magic to extend my sight into the ocean. Her farseeing is more along the length of jumping into the ocean to see its secrets while looking back for a lighthouse leading her way home. That lighthouse, by the way, is her nature as a High Priestess of the Old Religion."   
  
It was then that Gwen, who had been listening to the conversation couldn't resist chiming in. "Okay, pardon me, but hearing you talk leaves me with a horrible idea." They look at her and nod, gesturing with a smile to come close and ask her question.   
  
She smiles back at them before continuing. "Could it be that the Morgana we now see is not entirely the Morgana she used to be."  
  
"Well yes, though change is natural. The Morgana we all knew, called friend, called sister let her magic turn her into something else."   
  
"No. I mean, I get that. What if the path she is on now isn't entirely natural. Isn't her own."  
  
Merlin shakes his head. "Now I am confused, what are you trying to say."  
  
Gwen begins trying to put the idea forming in her mind into words. "Okay, I don't know magic as you do so tell me if what I am saying is wrong. But let us use your beach and ocean analogy you said last time. Okay. So when you see the future you are safe. You are seeing it through the lense of your magic, which while of you is not you, right." At Merlin's nod she continues. "So you are safe from harm. But Morgana, in a difference, actually goes swimming. She goes into the ocean entirely."  
  
"Right. That is good so far."  
  
"Okay, good. So what if there was a time when she went so deep into the ocean that she lost sight of land. What if that part of the ocean had something in it and it grabbed her, dragging her under. Now I know the future is not really an ocean, but monsters have attacked Camelot with radically alternate habitats, couldn't something exist in the sea of future potentials."  
  
Merlin stands their shocked. They all look at him as his face begin's showing a dawning horror at the idea. "That," he shakes his head, "I wish I could say you're wrong. If for nothing than it would save us all from what I feel we will have to do."  
  
Gwen nods at that, understanding where he is coming from with that statement.   
  
"But unfortunately I don't think I could. There are forms of life that are radically different from anything we know or could dream of. Some which lie in death, others dream, some in memory. There is completely a good chance that something could inhabit the ocean of time." He takes a deep breath. "Which does mean that, yes, something could have grabbed her at some point before she had true defenses. And the Morgana that resurfaced might not in fact be entirely Morgana anymore."  
  
"We could save her!" Both Arthur and Gwen say at once.  
  
Here Merlin hesitates before speaking, though he does slightly shake his head. "No, not necessarily. Depending on what dragged her under and what influence it might have, the best case scenario might be when we free her she dies anyway." Seeing the look on everyone's face. "Death is not a horrible event if she is that damaged. It would cleanse her soul, bringing her back to a pure state of being. It might even let her one day come back to us in the way she should always have been."  
  
Here he takes a moment to breath. "I cannot make any decisions on this right now. This needs research for me to determine if it is in fact true." Here he looks at them all. "Look, it might not be true. She might be the one doing it all on her own. But then it might not be entirely her. So I need to look into it."   
  
At this Arthur speaks up, trying to change the subject. "So Gwaine tell us about your most recent adventure in the woods. I heard that you came up against a talking wolf?" With that, though Gwaine does glare at Arthur, the topic shifts to something a bit less worrisome.  
  
8888  
  
"Kilgharrah, thank you for answering my call." Merlin says while standing in a field within the Citadel.   
  
Kilgharrah takes a moment to bask in the fact that though he is in Camelot he is sitting upon a grassy field right in front of the Citadel itself. With not a sword or bow in sight.   
  
"What can I do for you young Dragonlord?"   
  
"The Round Table had a discussion recently that I wanted to run by you." Merlin responds outloud, though the next part of the conversation he says in his head, directing it mentally to the dragon. "Its about Morgana. And the potential that she might not entirely be herself."   
  
"Young Dragonlord, your optimism and belief in the good of all is nice and yet it is misbegotten."   
  
"I understand. But I am not talking about us getting her to change her mind by being nice. I am actually talking about there being something insidious inside her influencing her actions."  
  
"As a High Priestess she is protected by such possession Dragonlord."  
  
"Yes. That might be true now. But there was a time when she wasn't a High Priestess, and if a thing got in beforehand it might not be so easily detectable."  
  
"Theoretically, yes. But you seem to be reaching young Dragonlord." Though the dragon stops and really looks at him, sees his seriousness. "What is going on in that mind of yours?"  
  
"The way her Sight works is similar to yours. I stand upon the shore of the present and cast my magic outward, but I do not leave my being. Both you and her jump into the waters of the future and swim about, seeing potential futures in a way that makes you feel as if you are living it."  
  
"That is correct Dragonlord."  
  
"Right. But there is a difference. Since the dragons agreed to be bound to the Dragonlords you have an anchor to the real, no matter how far you go or how deep you get you will never be alone. Its a guide and a protection."   
  
"Yes, that is quite true. It is how I have seen what I have seen. I often jump so far that the possibilities I am seeing are from alternate worlds, rather than our own."  
  
"But with a blink you find the light of the bond and come back to the world. The same cannot be said for Morgana, she has no anchor." Merlin sees the change on Kilgharrah's facial expressions.   
  
"Yes, Dragonlord, yes. That is true."  
  
"In your travels have you ever seen or met something within the currents of the future ocean. Something that is living, something that is active. Something with a will."  
  
Merlin can sense rather than see the dawning horror as Kilgharrah contemplates what he has seen.  
  
"Yes. Yes I have. Though I am a dragon there are things in the ocean of time that put to shame my species. It is due to the existence of such entities that my kind agreed to the bond, your presence makes us immune to the horrors that are there." The dragon looks up to the sky and takes a deep breath. "Is this conjecture or do you have proof that such a possession occurred."  
  
"Just a thought. I wanted to see if there was even a possibility to it before I began researching it. I also need a way to make my examination undetected, if an entity is influencing her I don't want it to know that I am aware."  
  
"That is good thinking Dragonlord. If she is being influenced its deep within her and not an active possession, for that would have been uncovered when she became High Priestess. There are entities within the ocean of time with powers similar to that of a divinity, enough to mask their presence."  
  
"That is good to know. Do you have any ideas on a way to mask my own scanning?"  
  
"Yes. There is a technique I can teach you to mask your presence. You have done well young Dragonlord, and if what you are suggesting is true than their might be good to check on her." Then he raises his wings about to take off. "But know this, even if you uncover she has been influenced death might by the only way to save her!" Then he flies off and ends the mind call. Merlin just shakes his head, thinking 'figures.'  
  
8888  
  
Merlin still remembers her cackling laugh as they fought in the recent battle. Her insistence he was naive and that Arthur would destroy all magic when he became like his father. The strikes of fire she sent out to blast the Knights, being blocked by Merlin at the last moment. The utter conviction she had that she was doing the right thing. He shakes his head, how could she have fallen so far.   
  
"Were you able to scan her during the battle?" A quiet voice says next to him from where he stands on a balcony. He jumps, not realizing anyone was hear with him, and looks at the voice. Gwen, looking as tired as he felt. But with some hope in her eyes.   
  
"How do you know that is what I was doing." He cannot help but ask. Though he doesn't think she is naive he wants to know her thought process.   
  
"You were toying with her, which is not your standard method of operation. You bantered longer than normal and resisted throwing down the harsher spells you know that usually drive her away. There is only one reason for that, you were working at something. So, what was the result."  
  
"Its all that we feared. There is something foreign within her, so deep it has latched itself onto her very soul. Its not controlling her, but its influencing her actions. Making her see the worst in everything and everyone and driving her towards her despicable actions."  
  
"Why so glum. That is good news! She can be saved."  
  
"Yes, she can. But Gwen, not in a way that lets her live in this life."  
  
"I don't understand, can't you take it from her. I know it won't be easy but its worth doing if it means she can be free of the corruption within her!"   
  
"Yes, I can remove it. But if I do that I would be taking her magic, for its the magic that the thing is hooked on. She would be alive, but it would be a half-life at best. Her body might still be alive at that but what made her Morgana would be mostly gone."  
  
Gwen shutters at that thought. "That's horrible."   
  
"Very much so. Which is why you can see why I wouldn't be able to do that and let her live. If, no when, I heal her I will also let her die. She might be our greatest enemy right now but she was once our friend and deserves better than becoming a meer fragment of a person."  
  
Gwen hangs her head, a tear comes to her eye. "I really hoped we could bring her back. Her loss to us is I believe our greatest failure."   
  
"I know Gwen, I wanted to bring her back to us too. I know Arthur does as well. But its not feasible. The corruption done to her and the horrors she has unleashed on the world is not something that can be fixed. Death in the end will be a kindness. It will cleanse her of the darkness and let her be reborn back into the light."   
  
Gwen just nods. The two stand on the balcony for a while in silence.  
  
~~~


End file.
